


Every Touch is a Redefining Phrase

by bluebismuth



Series: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter Fics [31]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Fantasy AU, Forbidden Love, Kings AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-30
Updated: 2019-07-30
Packaged: 2020-07-25 14:57:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20027692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluebismuth/pseuds/bluebismuth
Summary: Prince Ryan desperately needs a potion from a blood mage to help his ailing friend. Unfortunately, blood magic is a crime in his kingdom.





	Every Touch is a Redefining Phrase

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ShadeOfAzmeinya](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadeOfAzmeinya/gifts).

> secret sunshine fic for @ShadeOfAzmeinya!!

Ryan tugged the hooded cape closer around him. Even though there was little chance anyone would see his face now that he was in the woods, the frosted grass crunching against his boots told him that he needed the extra warmth. He kept the cape close around him with one hand, and carried his lantern in the other. While he knew he was looking for a cabin between the trees, Ryan had no idea what it looked like. It wasn’t like the person inside would freely advertise that they were a blood mage like any other magic user in the kingdom.

Ahead of him, Ryan could see a warm light, contrasting against the dim, cold night. He walked a little faster, eager to both meet the blood mage and get out of the cold. As he approached the cabin, he could see that the lights were still on, and that its occupant was moving about the room. Ryan could see a fenced off, but empty garden connected to the cabin.

When he approached the front door, Ryan took a deep breath and recited what he was going to say under his breath. Hoping that his face was obscured enough by the hood, he knocked on the door.

He heard footsteps inside the cabin shortly before the door opened. “A-are you Jeremy Dooley?” Ryan asked.

“The same,” he replied. “How do you know about me?”

Ryan set his lantern down and reached into his pocket, taking out a wrapped melon slice. He’d stolen it from the kitchen and sprinkled gold shavings on top, having memorized the recipe for an instant healing potion three times over. He needed one more thing, though, and it was standing right in front of him. “One of my friends is very sick. I don’t know how long she has left, so I need an instant healing potion. And I need a blood mage to enchant this.” He unwrapped the slice, revealing its golden sheen.

To be fair, Lindsay wasn’t his friend, persay—but she was his personal guard, and if nothing else, he appreciated her company. So it wasn’t a total lie, at least. But it would give away his identity right away if he said his personal guard was sick.

Jeremy’s eyes widened. He looked up at Ryan and back to the slice. “Come inside,” he finally said. “It’s far warmer in here.”

Well, he was certainly right. Ryan was hit with a blast of warm air, seeing a fireplace on the other side of the cabin. A black cat sitting on a chair trotted over to greet Jeremy, and he laughed and petted the cat’s head. 

Now that they were inside, Ryan was able to get a good look at Jeremy. He was about a head shorter than he was, but he was definitely more muscular. The top of his short brown hair was red—the mark of a magic user who was born with their abilities. If nothing else, he certainly had powers outside of blood magic. He looked back to Ryan, his brown eyes much more lit up in the bright cabin. Ryan watched as he moved a small potted tree aside and revealed a hatch. Jeremy motioned for him to follow as he opened it and descended down a ladder into the basement.

The basement was definitely what Ryan imagined a blood mage’s house would look like. The walls and floor were stone instead of wood, and dozens of books were strewn about the room. There was a large altar in the middle of the room, surrounded by counters with potion stands, bookshelves, and chests filled with supplies. In the center of the altar was undoubtedly Jeremy’s blood mage knife—an enchanted weapon needed for most of the rituals blood magic was a part of. It was unsettling, but Ryan, born without any magical ability, felt no pull towards it. Jeremy motioned for Ryan to set the melon slice on a nearby counter, and directed him towards the altar.

He suddenly remembered that he was definitely going to have to draw blood for this ritual, and he froze up. He wasn’t necessarily concerned about Jeremy accidentally taking too much, or depriving him of energy, but Ryan was concerned that his parents would see the scar, and immediately know what he’d been up to.

“Um…” Ryan paused, still looking at the knife. “You’re not gonna do it on my palm or my finger, right?”

“No?” Jeremy looked at him, confused. “Those areas are super sensitive to pain. Most blood mages take blood from their back or their outer arm.” He rolled up one of his sleeves to reveal quite a few scars on his upper arm—some old and barely noticeable, others still scabbing up. “If you want, I can draw my own blood—“

“No, no, it’s fine. It’ll be more effective if it’s me, since Lindsay’s closer to me than you.”

Jeremy shrugged, but picked up the knife and replaced it with the melon slice. “I’ll make a small cut on your upper arm, and I’ll direct the blood drops onto the melon. It needs at least five drops to be effective, and then I’ll brew the potion. Any more objections?”

Ryan rolled up one of his sleeves and hung his arm over the slice. “I’m ready.”

Jeremy nodded and pressed the knife blade to his skin. It was _cold,_ and yet it burned with the blood Jeremy used for his rituals—a mix of his own and his other patrons. He made a cut in his arm, and pinched the area around the cut to squeeze drops onto the melon. Once five drops were absorbed into the slice, Jeremy pulled away. “You...you have royal blood.”

Ryan froze. _How did he know that?_ He covered the wound with his hand and stepped back, confused. “I…”

Jeremy looked back and forth between Ryan and the melon slice. Hesitantly, he took the slice over to a potion stand. Ryan tentatively removed the hood, revealing his face. Even if he didn’t have his crown, or any of his fancier clothes on, his royalty radiated throughout his face. Hardly anyone in the kingdom had ice blue eyes like his, and even the way he walked and acted was a sure sign of his status.

Once the potion was brewing, Jeremy turned back to him. “What in the gods’ names is Prince James of Erro doing in a blood mage’s basement?”

“Please, Jeremy, I’m serious. I know you’re scared of me somehow ratting you out but I really need this potion and I promise that I won’t tell anyone that I visited you or even that I had a potion made to cure Lindsay I’m serious—“

As he was rambling, Jeremy took the finished potion off the stand and shoved it into Ryan’s hands. “Please leave. For both of us.”

Ryan nodded, pursing his lips, and climbed back up the stairs. In just a few moments, he was back out in the cold night, the moon shining down on the frost.

As he was walking back, the light coming from lantern outside Jeremy’s house was snuffed out.

———

Jeremy kept his word: when Ryan gave the potion to Lindsay to drink, the gray from her complexion washed away almost instantly. She sat a little straighter, and her eyes sparkled with mischief once again. The castle’s doctor said that she would be able to return to normal duty the next day.

Ryan wanted to thank him, for making the potion despite his suspicions, and to apologize for not telling him that he was royalty earlier. But for the next two weeks, he found himself sandwiched between his usual lessons and preparation for the coming winter solstice. Any time he did have free seemed to be either during meal times, or his sleep—and even then, that tended to end in a rude awakening from the castle staff right away in the morning more often than not. He found himself looking out the windows to the forest Jeremy’s cabin was in—he wondered whether or not Jeremy had forgotten about him, or if his grudge against him had rooted, and had been growing bigger the more time he spent between his visit and his coming apology.

He got a well-needed break when he was able to skip an optional dancing class just after lunch. Ryan donned his hood again and slipped out through the back entrance of the castle. He had to pass through some main streets, but thankfully plenty of merchants—and therefore plenty of customers—were there to make him stick out less.

Before long, Ryan found a short, hooded figure walking to the forest, a basket of goods in hand. _The same way I went to Jeremy’s cabin…_ He followed the figure, both wracked with anxiety that it wasn’t Jeremy, and yet, Ryan couldn’t pass up an opportunity to see him again.

He approached the figure from behind, but before he could tap the figure’s shoulder, they turned around—sure enough, it was Jeremy. “E-excuse me, Jeremy…” 

Jeremy’s eyes widened in bewilderment, seeing the prince. “What do you want?” He stepped away, glancing back at the forest.

“I-I just...wanted to thank you. For the potion. And to apologize for not telling you about the whole…” He looked back at the busy streets not too far away. “The whole not telling you I’m royalty thing. I just—“

“You didn’t want me to refuse service to someone who could’ve very well tracked me down specifically to turn me in?” Jeremy said, cutting him off. 

“Well, yes, but—“

“So you _were_ just trying to arrest me. What, is this your last attempt?” Ryan stood there, stunned, but Jeremy continued. “I’ll bet that potion was just a fluke too.”

“It wasn’t!” Ryan blurted out. “It wasn’t, I swear. I can’t tell you my true intentions and have you believe me, but I can prove the potion was needed.”

In researching the instant health potion he first needed, Ryan found that magic users could also see the auras of potions people consumed—at least for a period of time. If nothing else, he could make up for that. “I can introduce you to Lindsay. I can sneak you in, I’ve lived in this castle my whole life I know all the ins and outs—“

“Is running your mouth a theme with you?” Jeremy interrupted again. “Look, I don’t know what’s possessing me to do this, but fine. And then I’m leaving right after.”

“I’m okay with that,” Ryan replied. “Thank you, really, Jeremy. I just...I don’t want you to hate me.”

He held out his hand, hoping for Jeremy to take it. Jeremy stared at his hand, then looked back up to Ryan. “...Right…” He took another step away. “Can uh, can we do this tomorrow? In the evening, preferably?”

“Yes! Yeah…” Ryan said, all too quickly. Jeremy sighed and turned around, walking into the woods.

———

Ryan had a hard time not letting his mind wander the day after that. Even though all he would be doing with Jeremy was going to see Lindsay, some part of him was excited to see the blood mage. 

Maybe he just wanted to see him smile again. He knew not everyone in the kingdom lit up seeing the royal family, but something about Jeremy made his distaste and avoidance towards Ryan was different. He wanted Jeremy to like him.

After dinner, Ryan slipped out of the castle and into the gardens. He figured Jeremy would be hiding in the woods behind the castle to hide himself, and he looked through the iron fence surrounding the gardens.

Ryan saw something in the forest move, and his eyes were drawn to it. A hooded figure checked behind themself before seeing Ryan, and walking towards him.

“You actually came…” Ryan whispered, gripping the iron bars.

Jeremy shrugged. “I don’t have much else to do. Any way you can let me in?”

Ryan nodded. “Follow me.” He walked to one of the stone pillars that broke the iron fencing. “Under this one, there’s a hole you can climb into and come out on the other side. It’s covered by a bush, though.”

“I figured.” Ryan could hear Jeremy fitting himself through the pseudo-tunnel. Not wanting him to be stuck for long, Ryan went into the bush and held out his hands for Jeremy to grab. He was surprised when, after a moment, he felt Jeremy’s hands grasp his own. Ryan pulled the blood mage through the hole, both of them now stuck in the bush.

“Is this too close for comfort?” Ryan asked, half-joking. He let go of Jeremy’s hands, still unsure if he really trusted him.

Thankfully—or maybe not, Ryan couldn’t tell—Jeremy left the bush, seemingly eager to get the visit over with. Ryan followed suit, picking a leaf from his hair as he stood up. “There’s a secret tunnel in the gardens that’ll lead us up to my room. I told Lindsay to keep post outside there so my parents don’t think I left.”

“Well, at least you’re sorta smart…” Jeremy mumbled. He let Ryan lead him to another, taller bush against the castle. They made their way inside, and Ryan felt around for the door covered by the bush. He found the handle and pulled the door open, barely enough to keep the branches from breaking. Ryan pulled Jeremy inside, the tunnel only being lit by torches attached to the wall.

As Ryan led Jeremy down the tunnel, he explained, “After we’re out of here, there’s a back hallway with a staircase up. My room’s on the third floor, so we’ll have to do some climbing. It’ll be mostly out of sight, if nothing else.”

Jeremy nodded, but other than that, he remained silent. When they reached the staircase, he stopped to rest a little, taking in the ornate scenery (especially for something as bland as a hidden staircase). “Man, my legs hurt…” he mumbled, already tired from walking from his cabin and through the tunnel.

“Oh, do you...um…” Ryan reached out his hand again. Jeremy sighed and reluctantly took it—he might as well take whatever help he could get. Ryan tightened his grip on Jeremy’s hand as he led him up the stairs. On the second floor, he could see the entrance to a library room. Something in Jeremy’s mind made him want to come back, and he wasn’t sure if it was just to see the library.

Before he could properly look around, Jeremy was tugged up the stairs and to the third floor. After walking through a short corridor, they reached the main part of the floor. To the right, there was a balcony that overlooked the gardens and a good part of the capital city. To the left, though, he saw a knight with a halo of bright magenta around her head—the aura of an instant health potion.

_He wasn’t lying, then._ Jeremy looked up at Ryan, even though the prince was more focused on approaching his guard. If nothing else, it was easy to see why so many young people in the kingdom seemed to have a crush on him…

_Gods, what am I thinking?_ Jeremy shook his head. _I should leave soon anyway. I know she actually drank the potion now, at least…_

As Ryan talked to Lindsay, Jeremy tapped him on the shoulder. “I’ve...I’ve seen everything now. Let’s go back.”

“Oh! Well, alright…” After quickly saying goodbye to Lindsay, Ryan started to lead Jeremy back through the small corridor and down the stairs. When they approached the second floor entrance, Jeremy stopped.

“Can we...can we go in the library? Just for a little bit,” he asked.

Ryan looked at the hallway leading to the room, then back to Jeremy. “I don’t see why not.” He held out his hand again and, with less hesitation this time, Jeremy took it. Ryan guided the blood mage down the hall and they stepped into the library. Immediately, Jeremy was fascinated by the sheer number of shelves and the amount of books stuffed into them. Erro history books, books on (acceptable) magic, fictional stories about everything from the gods to ordinary people...Jeremy already had some at home, but he could never imagine owning this many. He walked to the first book that caught his eye—a golden yellow cover that discussed the various gods that came before them—and Ryan followed, his hand shifting up to Jeremy’s shoulder.

Before he could take open up the book or even take it out of the shelf, Jeremy heard a sharp yell. “You two! Who are you?!”

They both turned around to find a castle guard at the entrance of the library. “I thought I saw someone suspicious moving around the castle,” he said, pointing his words at Jeremy. “Prince James, did you know about this man?”

“I-I…”

The castle guard walked towards Jeremy. Before he could close the cape around himself, the guard moved it open with his staff. “You have the scars of a blood mage...you’ll be arrested for endangering the kingdom with your magic!”

“Wait, please, he’s with me—“ Ryan tried to separate the guard from Jeremy before he was cut off.

“Your Highness, I’m willing to not tell the King and Queen about your knowledge of this blood mage if you’ll let me arrest him.”

Ryan’s eyes widened, and he looked to Jeremy, terrified. He couldn’t sell him out like this, not after he promised that they would be safe. And now, here they were, with Jeremy about to be arrested for practicing blood magic.

“Fine. Just take me in.” Jeremy moved Ryan’s arm out of the way, and presented his wrists to the guard. “The Prince had nothing to do with this.”

“Jeremy…” 

He ignored Ryan’s last plea for something to be done. Instead, the castle guard bound Jeremy’s wrists with rope, and dragged him out of the library.

———

Ryan already knew that technically speaking, blood mages arrested for their practices were imprisoned indefinitely—depending on how willing they were to give up their magic. If they weren’t, or the rulers believed they’d injured or killed others for their magic, they would be executed as soon as possible.

Ryan prayed to whatever gods were still left that Jeremy at least pretended to give up blood magic.

His parents had no idea he was there when Jeremy was arrested, so they had no real reason to fill his schedule even more. In the meantime, he was working on a project of his own.

Once his lessons were done for the day, Ryan would continue working on a decoy he’d made out of stolen potato sacks from the kitchen and stolen hay from the stables. If he ever got exiled for what he was planning to do, he could reasonably live as a thief.

Today, though, he had an important delivery to make. He went into his closet and found some older, simpler clothes from when he was a teenager. He tucked them under his coat as he left his room and silently nodded at Lindsay, who returned the nod with a knowing smile.

From there, Ryan descended into the dungeons. The guards in the section Jeremy was held in were on break, so Ryan took the lantern hanging at the entrance of the hallway and started walking.

Almost all of the cells were empty—not much crime had been happening recently that warranted imprisonment. The one that was filled held Jeremy, who was curled up in the corner.

“Jeremy…” Ryan whispered, clutching one of the bars in one hand and holding the clothes he had with the other.

At the sound of his voice, Jeremy stirred and sat up. “What are you doing here?”

“Take these.” He reached the clothes through the bars and tossed them into the middle of the cell. “Put them on and give your clothes to me. I’m breaking you out tomorrow.”

“You can’t be serious.” Jeremy turned and reached over to grab the clothes, looking them over. “Are these...yours?”

Ryan nodded. “They’re from when I was younger, so you probably won’t be able to trip on them.”

Jeremy rolled his eyes. “Fine. What are you doing with my clothes, exactly?”

“I made a decoy of you that I’ll toss in here so they won’t know you’re gone. At least, not at first. But you should be far from the castle by then.”

Jeremy gazed at Ryan for a moment, then back to the clothes. “Alright, I’ll undress.”

Ryan turned away as the blood mage took off his clothes and replaced them with Ryan’s, keeping his cape on for some added privacy. Once he was done, Jeremy approached Ryan and tapped his shoulder. “Here,” he said, holding his own clothes out to the prince.

As he took them, Ryan looked up at Jeremy. Even though the colors were faded, and parts of the edges were frayed, he looked like a prince. “Well...thanks. For letting me do this. I know you’re probably upset at me for this whole thing…”

“No, not really,” Jeremy replied. “It was my fault I got caught. I shouldn’t have been drawn in by the library.”

“But I could’ve stopped you! And I didn’t, and now you’re here.”

Jeremy reached through the bars and put a hand on Ryan’s shoulder. “It’s not your fault. And even if it was, you’re clearly trying to fix the situation. So thank you for that.”

“I…” Ryan sighed. “Okay. The guards are probably gonna be back from their break soon anyway.” He stood up to leave, now carrying Jeremy’s clothes with him. “See you tomorrow, Jeremy.”

———

Ryan could barely focus on anything for the rest of the day. His mind was filled with thoughts of him getting Jeremy to escape—most of the time resulting in them getting caught. His stomach turned at the implications of it all. He only ended up falling asleep when the moon was high in the sky, when his eyes refused to stay open any longer.

The next morning was even worse. Even when Ryan thought that the lessons would help keep his mind off of Jeremy, mentions of magic—not even blood magic—would send him down the same line of thinking that made him restless last night. The amount of times his teachers would have to bring him back into the real world was enough to make him ashamed.

Everything was ready by the afternoon. Ryan had put Jeremy’s clothes on the dummy, but he still needed to put the cape around it once he got to the dungeon. He wrapped the dummy around his waist and concealed it with his cloak before leaving his room.

Walking with a purpose and acting like he owned the place gave Ryan an air of confidence he wouldn’t have otherwise. If nothing else, it would take the guards longer to notice that something was up so long as he acted like a prince.

As he descended into the dungeon, he let out a sigh of relief to see that the guards were on break. He grabbed the keyring on a hook near the entrance to the corridor and hurried inside, eager to see Jeremy again. 

“I’m here, I’m here, Jeremy,” Ryan panted, trying not to shake the keys too much. He shoved the dummy through the bars with some effort. “Get your cape on it while I find the key to your cell.”

It took some time, but Ryan went halfway through the ring of keys before he found the correct one and hastily unlocked the cell. Jeremy, now having the dummy curled up in the corner and facing away from the hall, rushed out and hugged Ryan, practically leaping into his arms. Ryan reciprocated the hug, pulling Jeremy close and holding him tight. He didn’t realize how much he missed the blood mage until now.

“James…” Jeremy trailed off, muffled by Ryan’s shirt.

“No, Jeremy...I go by Ryan. I-I like my middle name better.”

Jeremy pulled away to look up at the prince. “Well, if that’s the case, Ryan suits you better.”

“Thank you.” Ryan pulled away and offered a hand to Jeremy. He took it without hesitation.

“I assume we’re going back the way we came?”

Ryan nodded. “Just outside the dungeon here is the entrance to the main tunnel. There’s an exit that’ll take us to the smaller tunnel that we came in from.”

As they ducked into the tunnels, still holding hands, the two of them didn’t talk much. There was no need to. The excitement and relief were building as they left the castle and ran to the stone pillar with a hole under it. Ryan pushed Jeremy through first, and was then pulled out by Jeremy. 

They both heaved a huge sigh of relief when they disappeared into the forest. “Holy shit, we did it!” Jeremy exclaimed, practically jumping for joy in Ryan’s arms. They hugged each other close, the cool air becoming less and less of an excuse for their intimacy as they stayed there, holding each other.

Just as Ryan opened his eyes again, they squeezed shut when Jeremy lept up to kiss him. In a panic, Ryan shifted one of his arms down to Jeremy’s thighs, letting him wrap his legs just above Ryan’s hips. Jeremy wrapped his arms loosely around Ryan’s neck, lifting a hand to cup his cheek. Even when Ryan eventually broke the kiss, they stayed there, foreheads pressed together.

Neither of them knew what was going to come next. Maybe the guards would figure it out immediately, and find the two of them and imprison them both before they even got to Jeremy’s cabin. Maybe they would never find out, and would simply assume that Jeremy had died in his cell, burning his “corpse” before anyone found out it wasn’t him.

Whatever the case, they had each other for now. And they planned to cherish each moment together, no matter how short.

“Ready to go back to your cabin?” Ryan asked.

“I’ll miss you…”

“I know.” Ryan let Jeremy step down from him, kissing his forehead. “I’ll come visit. And when I’m king, I won’t have to hide you anymore.”

“You promise, Ryan?”

“I promise, Jeremy.”

Jeremy stood up on his tiptoes, and Ryan bent down a little to kiss him. “Then let’s go. It’s gonna be a ways to my cabin; I’ll lead the way.”

With that, he took Ryan’s hand in his, and they started walking.


End file.
